Crews clean up at the corner of Oxford and South streets after a driver smashed into several utility poles, knocking out power to much of south-end and downtown Halifax overnight. (RYAN TAPLIN / Staff)

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Six people were lucky to escape injury, and 4,600 Nova Scotia Power customers in Halifax lost power, after an allegedly impaired driver hit two utility poles just after midnight on Tuesday.

Halifax Regional Police said officers heard what sounded like an accident in the area of Oxford and South streets at about 12:30 a.m. When they arrived, they saw a vehicle on the sidewalk at the intersection. The six occupants of the vehicle had gotten out and were found nearby.

The vehicle had been travelling north on Beaufort Avenue toward Oxford Street when it hit a power pole on the west side of the street. It continued on and hit a second utility pole at the intersection of Oxford and South streets, where it came to rest.

Neither the driver nor his five passengers received injuries that required hospital treatment.

Police spokesman Cst. Pierre Bourdages said both alcohol and speed were factors in the collision, but he didn’t know how fast the vehicle was going when it struck the poles.

“Given the amount of damage, it would have been quite fast,” Bourdages said.

The 19-year-old driver, a university student from Halifax, will face impaired driving charges.

Power was knocked out in much of the downtown and south end until about 7:45 a.m.